Friday, April 20 2018 10:57

ArmInfo. The Iran-Armenia railway, as well as the new nuclear power plant, were not built, as a result of the calculations, more useful projects for the country were  implemented.  This was stated by the Prime Minister of Armenia Serzh  Sargsyan in an interview to the TV channel "Shant".

"The press sounds opinions, ostensibly, look, promised to build the railway  Iran-Armenia, and did not, the new nuclear power plant also does not  exist, etc. The positions voiced by any program can never be  petrified, much more is required for the construction of the  Iran-Armenia railway than for the North-South road corridor, which is  very important for Armenia, "Serzh Sargsyan said. 

As for the construction of a new nuclear power plant, then, in his  words, in parallel with the vision of the mandatory availability of  nuclear energy, it is necessary to think about the development of  this field.  According to him, there are models of smaller nuclear  power plants, which can be much more convenient for Armenia. In  addition, as the prime minister noted, green energy penetrates many  human lives. The cost of solar energy is approaching the logical  label.  Thus, according to the head of government, it is not so  important to follow what was said, it is much more important to act  in the interests of the country. "If I said many years ago that we  are building a nuclear power plant, should we necessarily do what I  say, or should we find a source of energy that is more profitable for  the country's economy?" He asked, emphasizing that here one should  orient oneself with world trends . Political responsibility, as  Sargsyan said, is a necessity, but it must be distinguished from  personal responsibility. In addition, it should be borne in mind that  Armenia is not isolated and "we live in a world where there are wars,  crises." It is noteworthy that the project for the construction of  the Iran- Armenia railway, which was announced as early as in 2012,  has not been completely formed for today. At the moment, according to  a very approximate calculation, the construction cost is estimated at  $ 3.2 billion. 

The routes of connection with the operating railway through the Sevan  coast (Sevan station) are discussed, the other is through the Ararat  valley (Yeraskh station). Meanwhile, on February 12, 2018, in an  interview with journalists, the Iranian Ambassador to Armenia Seyd  Kazem Sadjadi also noted that the Armenian side should make the first  step towards the construction of the railway. The Armenian side  should present the project to potential investors. "We simply need to  make joint investments in these areas, you will start, and we will  take a reciprocal step," the Iranian diplomat said. According to the  project, the total length of the road on the territory of Armenia  will be 305 km. It will have 86 bridges, a total length of 19.6 km  and 60 tunnels with a total length of 102 km.  Construction in  accordance with the submitted program should be completed in 2022. As  for the construction project of the North-South transport corridor  with a total length of 556 km, which will provide access to the Black  Sea and European countries through the territory of Armenia  (Meghri-Kapan-Goris- Yerevan-Ashtarak-Gyumri-Bavra) and Georgia.  Vahan Martirosyan, Minister of Transport, Communications and  Information Technologies of Armenia, reported at the end of September  2017 that according to current calculations, the construction of the  entire 556-kilometer North-South highway stretching from Bavry to  Meghri will cost more than $ 2 billion . As its southern part alone,  between the cities of Artashat and Meghri, is estimated to cost $ 1.5  billion, according to preliminary estimates.  Meanwhile, five years  ago, in September 2012, when the construction of the highway began,  the amount called the representatives of the government of Ar enii  was less than half -. $ 962 million in the amount of $ 150.3 million  and 23.14 million euros, in particular, has been built and modernize  a section of 31 km (at $ 70 million.). The rest of the amount was  spent on excavation work on the Ashtarak-Talin and Talin-Gyumri  sections. Also, work was carried out on concreting the road 11 km.

The construction of the corridor was originally planned to be  completed in 2019. Already today it is officially announced that the  terms are postponed for more than 2 years.